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Climate activists pay tribute to Nita Sanghera, UCU president-elect

It was a great shock to hear that Nita Sanghera, vice-president of UCU and president elect, due to take office this May, passed away after a short illness. Nita was well known as not only a voice for working class young people in FE, but also a tireless campaigner for social justice. Due to the efforts of Nita and others, her union, the University and College Union, has emerged as one of the key trade unions in this country pushing for climate action.

In the video above, from our climate march in December 2018, she explains that for education to be relevant to young people, climate change must be a core part of the curriculum, leading to decent jobs that help solve the climate crisis. In the following year this became a key demand of the UK youth climate strike movement. We will remember her and take forward this vision: for real education, for social justice and for climate action.

Suzanne Jeffery, chair of Campaign against Climate Change, said:

"We are so incredibly saddened to hear of Nita's untimely death. She spoke at our demonstration last year, coinciding with COP 24. It was her first time speaking on the urgency of the climate crisis and the key role trade unionists need to play. She was brilliant, she inspired and informed in equal measure. Nita's speech as an educator and a trade unionists called for us all to step up and stand alongside young people. And she played a crucial role in ensuring the trade union movement did just that, ensuring her union UCU, were instrumental in the TUC voting for solidarity with school students on 20th Sept. We are grateful we were able to work with her, although all too briefly, and mourn the loss of a powerful voice for climate justice."

Historic day – TUC passes support for a 30-minute workday campaign action in solidarity with climate strikes

Guest post by Sean Vernell, University and College Union National Executive Committee

The TUC passed, unanimously, the composite motion calling for a 30-minute workday campaign action to coincide with the global school student strike on the 20th September. It is the first time that the TUC has called on its 6.5 million members to demonstrate support for school students taking action. Indeed, it is the first time in many years the TUC has called on its members to demonstrate its collective power in solidarity with anyone. 

The trade union movement has a great debt to pay to the school students for transforming the debate over climate change and making it one of the main priorities amongst working people.

TUC votes to support the school student Climate Strike. Now turn words into action.

TUC conference has today unanimously passed a motion to support the school student Global Climate Strike on 20th September and has called on TUC affiliate Unions to organise a 30 minute work day campaign action to coincide with the school students strike on 20th September.

We congratulate the delegates at TUC who have voted to recognise the significance of the Global School Students strikes, initiated by Greta Thunberg and the need for adults and especially the Trade Union movement to stand alongside young people, to ensure they do not stand alone in fighting for the urgent action needed to tackle climate change and ecological crisis and to deliver Climate Justice.

We ask all Trade Unions to now turn words into action and get organised to build on the fantastic examples of Trade Union solidarity action already in place for 20th September. 

The 20th September is already set to be the biggest turnout of working people many organised through their Trade Unions in the UK uniting in solidarity with young people. But it can be even bigger and we still have two weeks to deliver solidarity action to put hundreds of thousands of Trade Unionist onto the streets.

We would like to salute the young people who have led the action and also the UCU NEC members who put forward the motion to TUC conference calling for a 30 minute stoppage. They have been bold enough to recognise the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for Trade Unionists to not only respond to the call for Trade Unions to join them but to be bold in their actions and demands. The support for the UCU statement with over 2000 Trade Unionists and over 100 organisations backing the call for solidarity and a 30 minute workplace stoppage on 20th has also shown us the appetitive that there is for climate action within the Trade Union movement.

We ask all Trade Unionists to do everything they can to match the boldness required of us by the urgency of the Climate Crisis. We have just under two weeks now to build maximum solidarity on the 20th. 

This is just the beginning and we will need to continue the work of building solidarity, fighting to ensure our unions have the most progressive policies which match what the science tells us that we need to do and to continue to demand the Climate Jobs and a Green New Deal which can deliver the Just Transformation that we need.

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